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Swamp Skimmer
"A fish hook, an old hat, a notched sword blade and two bronze clanks. All in all, a good morning’s work." Basic (RC) Of all the terrain found in the Borderlands, few are as nasty and inhospitable as its swamps and fens. Polluted stretches of land, filled with bloodsucking mosquitoes and ravenous leeches, they are breeding grounds for disease. Since these places are generally left alone, there are all sorts of treasures and oddities lurking beneath the vines and brackish water, and those with the mettle and constitution to resist the disease and vermin that infest these places find they can make a good living. Collectively known as Swamp Skimmers, these men and women brave the hostile environment in the hopes of bettering themselves and perhaps buying passage out of this dangerous land. Main Profile Secondary Profile Skills: Concealment, Follow Trail, Outdoor Survival, Navigation, Perception, Search, Silent Move, Swim Talents: Resistance to Disease, Sixth Sense Trappings: Large Sack, Thigh-high Waterproof Boots Career Entries Anchorite, Peasant, Vagabond Career Exits Mercenary, Peasant, Vagabond A Dangerous Lifestyle In civilised lands, ‘swamp skimmer’ is a bruising insult, but in the Border Princes it is a profession which offers escape from grinding poverty. For every skimmer who is lured to a watery grave by a corpse candle, or whose white bones mark the entrance of a beast’s lair, there is another who returns, muddy and mosquito-bitten, clutching a rusting sword or battered helmet which will earn him a few shillings. There are tales of a realm which once spanned from the desert regions of the far south to the edge of what is now the Empire, whose soldiers marched to war in armour of bronze and gold. Once in a while, a skimmer discovers the remnants of this lost civilisation; he jealously guards the ruins’ location, but it is only a matter of time before others converge on the find and strip it bare. Many fail to return: the dead rest uneasy in the fens. Skimmers tired of scouring the marshes bide their time until the inevitable adventuring party arrives in their locale, intent on exploration. The skimmers follow their tracks, which usually lead to their chewed corpses. Once the swamp predators have had their fill, the skimmers move in to loot what’s left. Maxen Widerlich The murderer, Maxen Widerlich, fled the Emperor’s justice by escaping to the Border Princes, where he discovered he could make a passable living skimming the badland swamps for valuable detritus. He would have remained a nameless treasure hunter had it not been for his chance discovery of a circle of metal sticking out of the mud. Pulling it free and wiping it clean, he noticed that it gleamed yellow in the wan sunlight: a circlet of pure gold! Excited, he traced the strange runes that encircled the band, and felt a strange compulsion to place it around his head. The crown fitted perfectly, but seemed to contract around Widderlich’s skull, and his agonised screams echoed through the marsh as he tried to rip it off. His screams seemed to stir the surface of the mire. Rising slowly from the mud, a thousand skeletal warriors in antique armour, wielding weapons of bronze, surrounded him. The flesh sloughed from Widderlich’s face, but he did not die. Grinning, the fiend he had become surveyed the troops. With a silent order from its risen master, the horde marched out of the swamp and descended upon the fortress of Baron Turme. The castle was swiftly overrun, and soon a new baron held sway: the fleshless tyrant Widderlich, who to this day carves out an empire for himself with his undead force. Swamp skimmers regard Widderlich’s fate as a cautionary tale, but many secretly envy the man – they consider the sacrifice of his eternal soul a small price to pay for the power he now wields.